title: An update on the regional organizations of the american burn association.
abstract: In 1985, the American Burn Association (ABA) created 10 regions in the United States and charged the Chiefs of these regions with the development of regional disaster plans. Now more than 25 years after this mandate, the ABA's Organizational and Delivery of Burn Care Committee assessed the status of regional development. The extant region leaders were contacted by email and queried as to the activities of their region and their opinion as to the success or failure of the regionalization initiative. Several regional organizational meetings were attended at the annual ABA meeting and many phone interviews were conducted to clear up any conflicting information. The original map of the burn regions was based on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma regions, but these have undergone significant redistricting. The organizational structure, age, and activities of the regions vary significantly. The financial costs of maintaining a regional organization and holding an annual meeting are a major concern for most regions. For the most part the regional organizations are a good source of professional networking and a cost-effective source of continuing medical education/continuing education units for burn centers. The regionalization experiment of the ABA been reasonably successful in its first 25 years, but the ABA and the regions should take this opportunity to consider the next steps for the regions in the coming 25 years.
authors.affiliation: From the *Rhode Island Burn Center at Rhode Island Hospital, Providence; †WFBMC Burn Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; ‡The Burn Center, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, New Jersey; and §Co-Director, The Burn Center at MedSTAR Washington Hospital Center, Washington, District of Columbia, and Chairman, American Burn Association Committee on Organization and Delivery of Burn Care.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Kathe
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Conlon
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jeng
mesh_terms: D002053:Burn Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002056:Burns / Q000628:therapy*; D004189:Disaster Planning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012040:Regional Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States